Bowling-alley ball-returnway.



1. NL MCINTIRE.

BOWLING ALLEY BALL RETURNWAY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I8. |91 I.

, ,144,145'. Patented June 22, 1915.

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.|- N. MclNTIRE.

BOWLING ALLEY BALL RETURNWAY.

APPucATloN FILED SEPT. la. 1911.

1,144,145. Patented June 22, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES IN VE N TOR 1. N. McINTIRE.

BOWLING ALLEY BALL HETURNWAY.

APPLICATION mso SEPT. la, 19| 1.

1,144,145. Patented June 22, 1915.

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1. N. McINTIRE.

owLLNG ALLEY BALL RETuRNwAY.

PPUCATION FILED SEPT.18.\911 1,144,145. Patented June 22, 1915.

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WITNESSES 4f' @n/Uv rHE NURRIS PETERS 60 PHom-LlTHov, wAsHlNn-fnlv. u, f

UNITED STATES PrXTENT OFFICE.

JACOB N. MCINTIRE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 THE BRUNSWICK-BALKE- COLLENDER COMPANY OF NEXV YORK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, l 915.

Application ied September 18, 1911. Serial No. 650,068.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Jaoo N. McIN'rInE, a citizen of the United States, residing 1n the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, (whose postolfice address is No. 1409 Prospect avenue, N ew York city, New York,) have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bowling- Alley Ball-Returnways, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

Mv invention relates to ball returnways for bowling alleys, and especially to that kind which homes the balls, initially, onto the rearmost end of the ball-rack or terminal that is located at the players end of the alley.

This genus of ball returnway, which is now extensively in use, and has come to be known to the manufacturers and users of bowling alleys, as the loop-the-loop return, was first disclosed in and was made the subject matter of U. S. Letters Patent No. 630,728 granted Aug. 8th, 1898. As set forth in said patent, the construction of this genus of return is such that, by means of a rapidly descending pit-end portion of the ball-track, and a long low-down horizontal portion running thence to the players end and there into a rearwardly and upwardly curved portion called the loop,7 the balls put on at the upper end of the sweep roll rapidly down on it, pass thence onto the long low-down portion of the ball-track, and roll thereon to the players end of the alley with suilicient speed to travel up in the loop, and pass thence onto the rearmost end of the terminal, for reuse by the player. In the (extensive) use of this patented genus of returnway, it has been found that, while constructed as heretofore (under said patent), the larger series of the balls with which a bowling alley is usually equipped, and used for pla-ying ten-pins, roll home onto the terminal and not too fast, so as to injuriously smashup together as they congregate on said terminal, and so as to render it dangerous or inconvenient for a player to get hold of a ball as it emerges from the loop onto the terminal, but the smaller balls, especially those of a diameter less than six inches, will not get home onto the terminal. In the ball equipment of a modern regulation 7 bowling alley those balls used for playing ten-pins range in size from 27 to 26, and :25 inches in circumference; the 27 inch ball being the regulation ball and used mostly by the professional and expert bowlers. And the respective weights of these balls are, approximately as follows: the 27 inch, 15 lbs. oz., the 26 inch 13 lbs. 12 OZ., and the inch 11 lbs., 12 oz. And, in practice on the loop-the-loop return, as always heretofore made, these balls will roll home onto the terminal satisfactorily. But with this construction the smaller balls, which weigh respectively as follows: the 4 inch diameter 1 lb., 1032- oz., the 4?,- inch diameter 2 lbs. 4i oZs., and the 5 inch diameter 3 lbs. ozs., will not ascend within the loop and be discharged therefrom properly onto the terminal.

It has been found that, in practice the smallest ball and the next smaller size will rarely roll up and onto the terminal, and as when not getting onto the ball-rack, such balls fall or fiy off onto the fioor, and are liable to seriously injure the foot of a player, such sized balls cannot be used on an alley provided with the present construction of loop-the-loop return. And as these smaller balls are always used (and none of the larger series) for playing the games of duck pins and candle pins it follows that alleys equipped with the loopthe-loop returns adapted to properly home ten-pin balls cannot be used for the other named games.

My invention has for its object to provide for use a ball returnway of the loop-theloop genus (which is far superior to all other styles in the particular of landing the homed balls onto the rearmost end of the terminal so constructed that both the larger and the smaller series of balls-Mtin fact, balls of all sizes) will be landed properly on the terminal, whereby it is made possible to use the alley for the playing of ten-pins-with the big balls-and also the playing of duck-pins and candle-pins with the small balls. And to this end and object my invention may be said to consist essentially, in a returnway of the loop-the-loop genus, constructed lOO so that while all the smaller balls Will travel homeward and onto the terminal with certainty and properly; all the larger ones will also thus travel homeward and not be discharged onto the terminal with undesirable speed, but will land thereon so gently that a player can conveniently and safely grasp one as it emerges from beneath t-he over-hanging part of the loop, and so that, if not thus taken off by the player, it will roll on toward the terminal stop and against any ball or balls already congregated on the ball-rack without the least undue concussion.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention relates to make and use a returnway comprising my invention, I will now proceed to describe the novel construction I have devised, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in which I have shown my said invention carried out in that precise form of loop-the-loop returnway in which I have, so far, successfully practised it.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, on a scale of about one-sixteenth full size, of my improved returnway-with a part broken out and the end portions moved closer together, to shorten the space occupied. Fig. is a partial top view of the pit-end portion and part of the low-down part only of the same, on the same scale. Fig. 3 is a detail view, on a scale of about one-quarter full size, of the receiving end portion of the ball-rack or terminal. Fig. 4 is a partial side view of the loop 7 or players end portion only of the return, drawn on a scale of about one-quarter full size. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken in a plane indicated by the dotted line fr' at Fig. 4. Figs. 7, 8, 9, l0 and 1l are diagrammatical cross-sectioi'ial views of the ball-track, or track-rails, drawn about full size, to illustrate particularly what I will hereinafter explain with reference to the bearing surfaces on these rails of the largest three balls (used in playing ten-pins), and of the smallest three balls used in the games of duck-pins and candle-pins.

lVherever a given part appears in more than one of these figures, it will be found everywhere designated by the same letterl or ligure of reference.

In the drawings, A is the transverse portion of the ball-track that is located, as usual, above the back side of the pit and onto which the bowled balls are put, by the pit-man to roll home to the players for reuse; while A1 is the quadrant or curved part by which the direction of. travel of the balls is translated to one in alinement with the sweep A3 onto which they pass, rolling first, however, from the said quadrant A1 onto the upper end of the said sweep, over the straight and slightly oblique portion A2 of the track.

The sweep, which is of about the profile (in side view) shown, merges at its lower end into the low-down horizontal portion At of the returnway, located about as usual; and all these parts of the return are properly supported at L, i, and j" by any desirable means, in about the usual manner.

The horizontal portion A4 of the balltrack merges at the player`s end of the alley, as shown, and in about the usual manner of the present loop-the-loop returns, into the lower part of the loop L which, as usual, is curved backward, upwardly and forwardly, as seen, and after the fashion of this part of the present loop-the-loop returns, and so that its uppermost portion overhangs the rearmost, ball-receiving, end of the terminal B, C; but this loop portion B, C, is made and arranged relatively to, or is combined with the rearmost end of the terminal in a materially different and novel manner, to conduce to the n ovel mode of operation of my improved returnway, in which the new results attained to flow from these two novel structural features, viz: lst, the novel cross-sectional shape of the ball-track, on which the balls travel by inertia all the way from the pitend to the discharge end of the said ball track on which they roll; and 2nd, the novel combined arrangement together of the overhanging part of the loop and the overhung, rearmost, ball-receiving portion of the terminal or ball-rack. And these novel structural features I will now specifically explain by reference to the drawings.

By an inspection of the full size crosssectional views (l to 11 inclusive, showing the peculiar and exact shape of the balltrack (of the two similar rails composing it) it will be observed that the smallest ball (,Z-shown at Fig. (-in rolling home contacts with the rails L only at the points '-1, l; or, in other words, rolls on a bearing surface which, relatively to the circumference of the ball is practically a mere line of contact; while, as shown at Fig. 7, the next larger ball e-ethe 421- inchrolls on the same ball track L in contact with surfaces the widths of which are equal to the spaces I have indicated on each rail by the pointers 5 and G.

The object and effect of this peculiarity of the track-rails is that the smallest ball fl which, by reason of its light weight would not otherwise roll home fast enough to mount within the loop L will travel up within the loop with sufficient inertia to insure its landing on the terminal, as I have illustrated its motion or travel at Fig. 1 where this ball d has rolled in contact with the loop rail far enough to insure its descent, in about the manner indicated in this figure onto the terminal, where I havel shown it landed. From which landing point it will gravitate or roll along on the terminal by reason of the usual slight Obliquity of the latter.

An inspection of Fig. 7 shows that the next larger' ball e rolls in contact with the same shaped rails on surfaces measured widthwise by the pointers 5, G at said ligure, or on surfaces each of which is approximately ths of an inch wide. And this extent of bearing surfaces of the ball e on the rails operates, by reason of the friction encountered in rolling, to make this ball travel somewhat slower than it otherwise would by reason of its greater weight, and at a rate of speed in rolling up within the loop as indicated at Fig. 1, that will insure its landing on the terminal a little in advance (perhaps a couple of inches) of the point at which ball d descends on the terminal, but in a proper desirable manner.

Referring now to Fig. 8, it will be seen that the -inch ball f there diagrammatically indicated, rolls in contact with these same track-rails on spaces at either side measured by the distance between the pointers 7 and 8 on each side of said figure; so that the surfaces with which the circumference of this ball frictionally contacts on the two rails measure, respectively, widthwise approximately ths of an inch, so that this largest and heaviest ball of the three smaller ones will roll home slower than it otherwise would; and also so that, keeping in contact longer with the overhanging part of the loop, will leave the latter and descend onto the terminal at a point 2 or 3 inches in advance of that at which ball e landed.

The three shown balls of the larger sizes, for playing ten-pins, seen at a, b, c, Fig. 1, in rolling home from the pit end of the returnway onto the terminal coact with the track-rails Il as I will now explain by reference specially to Figs. 9, 10 and 11.

At Fig. 9 it will be seen that the 25-inch ball a contacts with the track-rails on spaces widthwise of the latter measured respectively by the distance between the pointers 9 and 10, at either side of this figure.

It will be observed that this measure of the frictional contact surface here is approximately 1g inches; because this much heavier ball needs to have its rolling speed or motion very materially checked, which is done by having the much greaterl contacting surface shown and by also having this surface extend farther up on the ball, so to speak, or nearer to its horizontal diameter, at each side.

At Fig. 10, it will be seen that the larger, 26, inch ball G, contacts, at either side, with the track-rail for a distance measured from 11 to 1Q; but this contact space being higher up so to speak, on the ball, the latter tends to roll home slower.

At Fig. 11 it will be seen that the biggest ball of all,-the 27 inch ball c-contacts only from 13 to 14; but a greater tendency to slow down this ball exists by reason of the lines, or spaces of contact with the rails being located higher up, so to speak, on the sides of the ball.

In practice I have found the structure shown to result in this Q-inch ball coming out from under the overhanging part of the loop, onto the terminal at a rate of speed which enables a player to conveniently catch the ball with his hand, or hands, immediately or very soon after it lands on the terminal.

Of course, in order to permit the biggest ball c of all, to pass along between the overhanging part of the loop and the receiving portions of the terminal rails beneath it, the distance between the said overhanging loop portion and the said portion of the terminal rails must not be at any point less than equal to the diameter of this biggest, regulation ten-pin ball c. And it is a material structural feature of my novel returnway that the space between the contact line of ball c of the loop and that of the terminal rails is exactly equal to the diameter of said biggest ball, and that these two contact lines are perfectly parallel, so that after the ball c gets up onto the receiving ends of said terminal rails it will roll or travel thence all the way until it escapes or emerges from beneath the loop, in frictional contact with the latter. This operates to put a brake, so to speak, on the moving ball which (being pretty heavy) comes up very fast, and causes it to pass out from beneath the over-hanging part of the loop at so moderate a rate of speed that it can be grasped or taken up by the player without danger of getting his hand hurt; and, so that if not caught up by the player it will not pass along on the terminal so fast as to effect any undue concussion with what balls may be congregated on the latter.

This gaged distance between the said contact lines, and their parallelism, to induce to the mode of operation, I have eX- plained is an essential feature of my invention.

While as shown at Fig. 11, the contacting rail surfaces (from 13 to 14) at each side of this biggest ball c, are not nearly so extensive (being only about ths of an inch) as those of the lighter ball a, they are, it will be seen at Fig. 11, located higher up on the lower half of the balls circumference, which tends to make the ball roll home a little slower, its speed being, however, still further checked in passing along between the loop and the terminal; while this peculiar construction enables me to get the much greater rail-bearing surfaces for ball a (to slow down its speed) which, being much smaller than o cannot receive any brake action from the overhanging portion of the cc loop.

It will be seen from all I have set forth, as to my improved construction of loopthe-loop returnway, that the operativeness of the same depends upon the ratios of the radii of the different sized balls to the perpendicular' distances between the centers of said balls and the horizontal planes that pass through the bearing or contact surfaces of said balls on the track rails; as I have clearly illustrated and described.

It will now be understood that the two essential features of my invention reside in-lst, the peculiar shown and described profile, so to speak, in cross-section of the track-rails; and 2nd, the peculiar shown and described parallelism, and distance apart of the contact lines or surfaces of the biggest ball on the overhanging part of the loop and the ball-receiving portions of the terminal rails. And, as experiment and actual practice have demonstrated, it is by reason of these structural peculiarities that, in the use of my improved loop-the-loop returnway, all the balls (from the ,Q7-inch circumference down to the 4-inch diameter) ever used on a bowling alley, for playing on the same every sort of game, are properly homed.

By preference I provide the ball-receiving portions of the two terminal rails B, C, with an inlaid cushioning device m (see Fig. 3 at which alone I have illustrated the device) which in practice I have found eiicient and desirable to lessen the slight concussive actions, shocks, to the smaller series of balls, as they necessarily descend out of contact with the overhanging portion of the loop and land on the ball-receiving portion of the terininalwas illustrated with reference to the little ball cl, by the dotted line at Fig. 1.

l'laving now so fully set forth the construction and mode of operation of my iinproved returnway, that those skilled in the art can make and use loop-the-loop7 returns embodying my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a ball returnway, a track the rails of which are so shaped in cross-section that the ratio of the radius of any larger ball to the perpendicular distance between the center and the horizontal plane passing through the bearing surfaces of such ball is enough greater than the ratio of corresponding dimensions of any smaller ball to reduce to a desired extent the speed of return of such larger ball relative to that of the smaller ball.

2. In a loop-the-loop genus of ball returnway, a ball receiving portion of the terminal and a portion of the loop overhanging the same, the ball contacting surfaces of each of which parts are parallel and the distance between which parts is just equal to the diameter of the biggest t regulation ball used on an alley.

3. In a ball returnway for bowling alleys, a track structure` having an inner track and an outer track, each of uniform cross section throughout its entire length, said inner track being located immediately below the level of the other track and close thereto.

4. In a ball returnway for bowling alleys, a track structure having an upwardly and backwardly curved terminal end, and a rack at said terminal end, located beneath the top of said curved end, said track strueture being of constant cross section throughout its length, and having an outer track and an inner track there between, the outer one being slightly above the inner, and the menibers of both tracks, spaced apart in such manner as to support all sized bowling balls at points near their largest diameters whereby their speed on the track is not appreciably lessened in traveling from one end to the other thereof.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of September, 1911.

J. N. MCINTIRE.

In presence of- F. DIEHL, H. CRooHERoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patenti. Washington, D. C. 

